GENEVA: The Abu Dhabi investors in Manchester City and Girona have been offered divestment options by UEFA to let both compete in the Champions League next season by complying with integrity rules for teams that share owners.
Girona have made a stunning run to a guaranteed top-four finish in Spain’s La Liga, with three key players either loaned or sold via Man City’s influence including Brazilian star Sávio.
On merit, Girona will join Man City, the 2023 Champions League winner which will finish in the top two of the English Premier League.
But the teams have severely tested UEFA’s rules on multi-club ownership that guard against collusion in games.
Failing to comply with UEFA’s rules with a proposal by June 3 should see one of the two teams, likely Girona, demoted to the second-tier Europa League. The team finishing higher in their domestic league take priority.
According to a UEFA document seen on Tuesday by The Associated Press, two options are open to City Football Group (CFG), the Abu Dhabi-created operation with stakes in 13 clubs worldwide including 100 percent of Man City and 47 percent of Girona.
CFG could solve the problem by selling shares to an independent third party that reduces one ownership stake to below 30 percent, or transfer all shares in one club to a blind trust overseen by a panel appointed by UEFA.
The trustee could be picked by CFG in a UEFA-approved model that applied this season in a compliance deal for AC Milan, Toulouse and their United States investor Red Bird Capital.
The multi-club ownership issue for UEFA and CFG has loomed since Girona’s league-leading fast start in September.
UEFA declined comment all season pending Girona’s confirmed qualification in the Champions League this month.
On Tuesday, UEFA’s club finance monitoring panel wrote to soccer stakeholders to clarify updates to its multi-club rules for entry to European club competitions that were first drafted in the 1998-99 season.
Man City and Girona drew scrutiny for CFG having “decisive influence” over both because the Abu Dhabi operation holds at least 30 percent of the shares in both, and because of the clubs’ transfer dealings this season.
Girona seemed to meet the UEFA panel’s criteria for clubs that “transferred, permanently or temporarily, three or more players with the other club, directly or indirectly via related parties, during the season.”
Girona have two players on their squad who belong to other CFG clubs: Right back Yan Couto, on loan from Man City, and winger Sávio, on loan from French club Troyes.
Sávio is the revelation of the season in Spain. His dribbling and speed on the left flank has caused mayhem in opposing defenses. The 20-year-old has scored 10 times and is one of the league’s top assist-makers with nine passes for goals.
Couto has excelled in joining in the attack from his position of right back, delivering eight assists. Both are in Brazil’s squad for the end-of-season Copa America in the US
After completing a loan at Girona, City also then sold Venezuela midfielder Yangel Herrera to their sibling club last July.
Man City was bought in 2008 by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family.
The CFG was formed five years later, with Man City — by now a Premier League champion for the first time — acting as the flagship club in a worldwide portfolio that soon contained teams across multiple continents.
First came New York City in 2013, then Melbourne City in Australia’s A-League, Girona in Spain, Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan, Sichuan Jiuniu FC in China, Club Atletico Torque in Uruguay and Mumbai City in India joined the group, which also had a “collaboration agreement” with Venezuelan team Atletico Venezuela.
In recent years, the CFG has acquired stakes in European clubs Lommel in Belgium, Palermo in Italy and Troyes.
Abu Dhabi owners of Man City and Girona given options to meet Champions League entry rules
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Abu Dhabi owners of Man City and Girona given options to meet Champions League entry rules
- The teams have severely tested UEFA’s rules on multi-club ownership that guard against collusion in games
- Failing to comply with UEFA’s rules with a proposal by June 3 should see one of the two teams, likely Girona, demoted to the second-tier Europa League
Villarreal dampens Barcelona’s title celebrations. Mbappé scores again for Madrid
- Villarreal’s victory secured its return to the Champions League for the first time since reaching the semifinals in 2022
MADRID: Villarreal dampened Barcelona’s title celebrations by handing the Catalan club its first defeat of 2025 in the Spanish league on Sunday.
Barcelona, which clinched its 28th league title midweek, presented the trophy to its fans in the team’s final home match of the season at Montjuic stadium. Players were announced one by one after the game, which Villarreal won 3-2, before lifting the trophy.
Barcelona’s Spanish Super Cup and Copa del Rey trophies also were displayed at Montjuic, with players dancing around the silverware during the celebrations.
“We can be proud of this team for winning these titles and for how it did it,” Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen said. “We had a great season in all levels.”
Before the match, Villarreal players did a guard of honor for the new league champions, with its players lining up to congratulate Barcelona as the team entered the field.
Real Madrid won 2-0 at nine-man Sevilla, with Kylian Mbappé extending his league-leading tally to 29 goals with one round to go. Jude Bellingham also scored. Madrid reached 81 points, four fewer than Barcelona.
Villarreal’s victory secured its return to the Champions League for the first time since reaching the semifinals in 2022.
It will join Barcelona, Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao in Europe’s top club competition next season. Spain will have five clubs in the Champions League next season.
Real Betis clinched one of the Europa League spots. Celta Vigo, Rayo Vallecano and Osasuna will be chasing the final Europa League place and the Conference League spot.
Leganes, owned by former Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow, and Espanyol will try to avoid the last relegation spot in the final round when Leganes is at last-placed Valladolid and Espanyol faces relegated Las Palmas.
Barcelona, Madrid, Atletico and Athletic will play in next year’s lucrative Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.
All 10 games were played at the same time on Sunday.
Barcelona’s loss
Barcelona hadn’t lost in the league since a 2-1 defeat against Atletico on Dec. 21, with 15 wins and two draws since then. Villarreal’s win was its fifth straight victory in the league.
Ayoze Pérez put the visitors ahead after a breakaway four minutes into the match. The hosts equalized when Lamine Yamal scored with yet another beautiful goal in the teenager’s outstanding season, curling in a left-footed shot from outside the area.
Fermín López put Barcelona ahead in first-half stoppage time, but Santiago Comesaña scored for Villarreal in the 50th and Tajon Buchanan netted the winner in the 80th.
It was likely the last match Barcelona played at Montjuic stadium as the club plans to return to the Camp Nou Stadium next season even though renovation work at the venue is not expected to be fully completed until mid-2026.
Mbappé’s goals
Mbappé strengthened his chances of finishing as the league’s top scorer this season with a goal from a low shot from outside the area in the 75th.
Mbappé now has 29 league goals. Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski (25 goals) is his nearest rival.
Sevilla’s Loic Bade was sent off in the 12th for a foul on Mbappé to stop a breakaway. Then Isaac Romero was shown a red card for a hard foul on Aurélien Tchouaméni.
It was the second-to-last match for Madrid under Carlo Ancelotti before he becomes Brazil coach. Xabi Alonso is widely expected to be Madrid’s next coach.
Sevilla, sitting in 16th place, had only one win in its last 10 games.
Relegation fight
Leganes kept its survival hopes alive by winning 1-0 at Las Palmas with a sixth-minute goal by Dani Raba.
It is two points behind the first team outside the relegation zone, Espanyol, which remained in danger after a 2-0 loss at Osasuna for its fifth straight defeat.
Alaves escaped the drop by winning 1-0 at Valladolid, while Getafe did the same by beating Mallorca 2-1 to end a six-game losing run.
Second-to-last Las Palmas and bottom side Valladolid had already been relegated.
European places
Celta Vigo lost 2-1 at home to Rayo Vallecano but holds the final Europa League spot in seventh place. It is one point ahead of both eighth-placed Rayo — in the Conference League position — and ninth-placed Osasuna.
Rayo will host Mallorca in the final round, while Osasuna visits Alaves and Celta is at Getafe.
Spanish Super Cup
The top two teams in the league and the Copa del Rey finalists are awarded places in the Spanish Super Cup. Since this season’s final was between Barcelona and Madrid, two other spots were made available through the league.
Third-placed Atletico guaranteed its spot with a 4-1 win over Betis with Julián Álvarez scoring twice, including with a superb curling free kick in the first half. Fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao won 1-0 at Valencia with a goal by Álex Berenguer.
Alguacil honored
Real Sociedad honored coach Imanol Alguacil in its final home match, a 3-2 win against Girona.
Alguacil will step down this summer after a mostly successful six-and-a-half-year stint in charge of the Basque Country club.
Napoli close in on Serie A title despite Parma stalemate
PARMA, Italy: Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after being held to a goalless draw at Parma while closest rivals Inter Milan drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with Lazio.
Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar.
The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres was fouled, only for the decision to be reversed for a foul committed by Giovanni Simeone earlier in the move.
A feisty match at the Stadio Ennio Tardini ended with Conte and his Parma counterpart Cristian Chivu both being sent off following a blazing row between the two dugouts in the final moments.
However a home win on the final day against Cagliari, who are safe thanks to a 3-0 win over second-from-bottom Venezia, will give Napoli a fourth league crown.
“We’re close but we have more step to take in front of our own fans. We’ve been top for a large part of the season even with a lot of difficulties,” said Conte to DAZN.
“It’s down to these boys who put their heart and soul into it. I really hope we can win this title because it would truly be a great achievement.”
Inter’s final fixture is at Como who are finishing their first Serie A season in over two decades in great form, although Cesc Fabregas’ team’s winning streak ended at six matches with a 1-1 draw at safe Verona.
Napoli were saved from being overtaken by Inter thanks to a Pedro brace for Lazio, including a 90th-minute penalty.
Denzel Dumfries thought he had headed home a potentially key goal with 10 minutes remaining at the San Siro, before a Yann Bisseck handball allowed Champions League chasers Lazio to snatch a point.
Inter once again showed their wasteful side by giving away a lead twice, with Bisseck opening the scoring on the stroke of half-time before Pedro netted in the 73rd minute, while Marko Arnautovic missed a golden chance to move the hosts top in the dying moments.
Coach Simone Inzaghi will also missed the final match of the season after being sent off for his livid reaction at the VAR check which led to Pedro levelling from the penalty spot.
No one from the Inter spoke to media after the match, in apparent protest over the decision to give Lazio their penalty.
Lazio drawing kept the Roman club in the hunt for the final Champions league spot, although Marco Baroni’s team are two points behind four-placed Juve who beat mid-table Udinese 2-0.
Sandwiched between Juve and Lazio are Roma, who beat 10-man AC Milan 3-1 on a night when fans honored Claudio Ranieri in his last home match as coach for his boyhood club.
Milan, who had to play most of the match a man down after Santiago Gimenez was sent off in the 21st minute, sit ninth and will not play European football next season.
Bologna’s bid for Champions League football is over after a 3-2 defeat at Fiorentina which left the Italian Cup winners five points behind Juve.
However Vincenzo Italiano’s team will play in the Europa League next season thanks to their historic cup victory on Wednesday over Milan, their first major trophy since 1974.
A point was not enough to guarantee Parma safety as Chivu’s team are two points above Empoli who are just inside the drop zone after beating relegated Monza 3-1.
Empoli are level on 31 points with Lecce, who moved one place above the relegation zone with a 1-0 win over Torino.
Sharjah FC win first Asian title with dramatic victory in Singapore
- UAE side won it in the 97th minute through a piece of Meloni magic
SINGAPORE: Sharjah beat Lion City Sailors 2-1 on Sunday to win the AFC Champions League Two title in dramatic fashion.
A second half goal from Firas Ben Larbi looked to have been enough to give the team from the UAE a first continental title at the Singapore home of their opponents. Yet Maxime Lestienne’s injury time equaliser appeared likely to send the game into extra-time before the impressive Marcus Meloni won it in the 97th minute.
It was the end of a long run to the final for Cosmin Olaroiu, who now leaves the club to take charge of the UAE national team with a 22nd title as a coach, and his men and it was a hard-fought victory in front of 10,000 fans at the Bishan Stadium.
Lion City had the best chances of the first half and the home fans thought that the deadlock had been broken after 35 minutes. Rui Pires found Diego Costa on the left corner of the area and the Portuguese star controlled the ball and then, in the same motion, fired a low shot that came back off the post.
One of the visitors’ best moments came in added time at the end of the first half. David Petrovic curled a dangerous cross into the area from the left but Luanzinho’s header was just a little too high and a little too wide.
Midway through the second half Sharjah should have taken the lead. Ousmane Camara rose high at the near post to meet a corner from Meloni but headed just wide with the goal at his mercy. Seconds later, Luanzinho fired into the side-netting. Soon after that, Ben Larbi had the ball in the net, although the Tunisian was clearly offside.
Then with 16 minutes remaining Sharjah took the lead to the delight of a sizeable contingent of fans in red and white. Khaled Ibrahim timed his run on the right side of the area perfectly to put the ball across the face of goal for Ben Larbi to tap home from close range.
Ten minutes later, Sharjah almost extended their lead. Meloni’s clever free kick from the right was blocked by Izwan Mahbud and Cho Yu-min, quick to the rebound, headed over from close range.
The hosts pushed forward in search of an equaliser and while they had chances, Sharjah looked fairly comfortable. Then just after 11 minutes added time had been signalled, it was all square. Costa’s pass found its way to Lestienne in space in the area, and the Belgian fired home.
As all prepared themselves for extra time, Sharjah won it in the 97th minute through a piece of Meloni magic. The Brazilian-born midfielder had possession on the left of a crowded area, made room for himself and then curled a perfect shot from a tight angle into the opposite corner. It was a goal worthy of winning any final.
There were some scary moments as the Sailors threw everything forward but this time, Sharjah held on and celebrated in front of their delirious travelling fans.
“It means a lot for us, the country and the fans and we worked so hard for this,” Meloni said. “The final was like the rest of the competition. I am happy to score the winning goal but this was for the team and the coach, who deserves it.”
Sporting defend Portuguese title with final day win
- Sporting and Benfica were level on points going into their last match
- Benfica needed to better Sporting’s result to triumph but drew 1-1 at Braga
LISBON: Sporting Lisbon defended their Portuguese crown on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Guimaraes to hold off rivals Benfica on the final day of the Primeira Liga season.
Both Sporting and Benfica were level on points going into their last match after a tense 1-1 derby draw last weekend left the title race on a knife edge.
Benfica needed to better Sporting’s result to triumph but drew 1-1 at Braga, although even a victory would not have been enough as Rui Borges’ side triumphed and had the superior head-to-head.
Pedro Goncalves broke the deadlock in the second half and the division’s top goalscorer Viktor Gyokeres notched his 39th league goal of a stunning campaign to seal Sporting’s victory.
Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim led Sporting to last year’s title and after he departed in November was replaced by Joao Pereira, who only lasted six troubled weeks before Borges took over.
Sporting claimed their 21st Primeira division title and could make it a domestic double as they face Benfica next Sunday in the Portuguese cup final.
Crystal Palace’s Eze seals historic FA Cup final win against Man City
- Local boy Eze volleyed in after 16 minutes
- Omar Marmoush had first-half penalty saved by Henderson as City lost in the Cup final for a second successive season
LONDON: Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze sparked a massive south London party by scoring the only goal to win the FA Cup 1-0 against Manchester City on Saturday and claim the club’s first major trophy in their history.
Local boy Eze volleyed in after 16 minutes, former Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson performed heroics in the Palace goal and City contrived to waste a sack-load of chances including a penalty in an enthralling final.
After England forward Eze, whose goals in the last eight and semis fired his team into the final for the third time, scored completely against the run of play, Palace had to survive a City siege to spark wild celebrations.
Omar Marmoush had a first-half penalty saved by Henderson as City lost in the Cup final for a second successive season, summing up a harrowing campaign in which they have been dethroned as the powerhouse of English football and will go without a domestic trophy for the first time since 2016-17.
For Palace’s massed ranks decked in purple and blue, it was a day of unbridled joy as Oliver Glasner’s team rode their luck to make it third time lucky after suffering defeats in their previous two FA Cup final appearances in 1990 and 2016.
Glasner, who took charge of the club 15 months ago, becomes the first Austrian coach to win the FA Cup.
City have been a pale imitation of the side that has dominated the English game for the most of the past decade.
But the way they began at Wembley suggested that Pep Guardiola’s side were determined to prove that talk of their demise had been greatly exaggerated.
Having picked an ultra-attacking lineup shorn of defensive midfielders, City hemmed Palace deep inside their own half for the opening 15 minutes with Kevin de Bruyne pulling the strings on what was his last Wembley appearance in City’s colors.
BRILLIANT HENDERSON
His lofted ball picked out Erling Haaland whose stretching effort at the far post was brilliantly saved by Henderson who shortly afterwards beat out Josko Gvardiol’s header.
Palace finally broke the siege and in their first foray beyond the halfway line they ripped through City’s lines.
Jean-Philippe Mateta played in Daniel Munoz and his cross was met by Eze who flashed a first-time volley past Stefan Ortega to provoke an eruption of noise from the Palace fans.
Ismaila Sarr nearly made it 2-0 but Ortega saved and Palace’s hearts were in their mouths when Henderson appeared to have handled the ball outside his area under pressure from Haaland but a subsequent VAR check spared him a possible red card.
There was no escape for Palace defender Tyrick Mitchell when he tripped Bernardo Silva and referee Stuart Attwell pointed to the spot. Surprisingly, Haaland did not take it and instead Omar Marmoush stepped forward for his first penalty since joining City in January, but his effort lacked conviction and Henderson dived to his right to save.
Henderson made a flying save to keep out Jeremy Doku’s curling effort as Palace reached halftime ahead despite having only 19 percent of possession.
Munoz thought he had made it 2-0 just past the hour mark but a lengthy VAR check ruled his effort out for offside.
Seven-time winners City went close numerous times after the break with Henderson and his defenders performing heroics to preserve Palace’s lead.
A huge groan went up from the Palace fans as 10 minutes of stoppage time but after more close shaves and nail-biting the final whistle sounded and the club’s anthem Glad All Over bellowed around the stadium.
